Proceedings of UNESCO Conference on: Threats to Cultural Heritage and Diversity in Syria and Iraq

04/12/2014 - عدد القراءات : 2207

The conference on: Protection
of Cultural Heritage & Respect
of Cultural Diversity in Iraq and Syria

The international conference organized by UNESCO on "Protection of Cultural Heritage & Respect of Cultural Diversity in Iraq and Syria," concluded at its headquarters in Paris. This high-level meeting focused on how to combat the smuggling of antiquities, the international actions that help to fight the illicit traffic of cultural property and the laws and the international conventions for protection cultural heritage.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova talked in her opening speech about the importance of the cultural heritage as an identity of the humanity, and the need for the international community to act in the face of extremism and militancy that threatens the cultural and civilizational diversity in Syria and Iraq. She spoke about the extremists crimes in destruction shrines and relics because of ideological ideas and focused on the illicit trafficking, which carried out by the antiquities gangs in Syria and Iraq.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, talked about the role of reconciliation in finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and his plan to freeze the fighting in Aleppo. He stressed in his speech about the role of stopping the violence in Syria to save the Syrians human lives and heritage, he added that the peace advent in Syria has become an urgent necessity.

The General-Director of DGAM

In the Second session, The General-Director of DGAM Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim talked about the damage to the Syrian cultural heritage by looting and vandalism during the crisis. He talked about The DGAM vision during that period, which based on: involve all the Syrians in the defense of their cultural heritage against acts of theft, looting and vandalism, protect the museums, involve the local communities in the protection and preservation of cultural heritage, and to prevent using it for political purposes. He encourage the cooperation with all the international concerned stakeholders to protect the Syrian cultural heritage.

He added that causing damage to the heritage of any country is harmful to the spirit and identity of its people, and at the end of his speech, he called on everyone to protect this humanity heritage against a disaster that is painful for all.